Google is stepping up its Doodle game for the World Cup

Designer Matthew Cruickshank, left, and team leader Ryan Germick collaborate on a Google Doodle in Sao Paolo. (Courtesy of Google)

SAO PAULO – You’ve seen the Google Doodles, the delightful illustrations that hover over the search bar as you try to figure out what twerking is.

Now the Doodles, which have been around since 1998 and commemorated thousands of events, are making a little history of their own. For the first time, Google is creating Doodles at a live event.

“We do nearly 400 doodles a year,” said Ryan Germick, the team lead. “There’s a lot of coordination and planning that takes place, but this is the first time where we don’t know what will happen.”

That’s because Germick and designer Matthew Cruickshank are creating Doodles specifically for the World Cup live in Sao Paulo every day as the matches are being played.

“We would probably spend a week or more working on a static illustration,” Cruickshank said. “Here we’re actually sometimes doing 10 drawings in that time and up to 100 frames of animation … the process is amazing.”

The pair are brainstorming on the 18th floor of a massive building in Sao Paulo’s business district. Their office is marked by a wall-to-wall whiteboard, three flat screen TVs streaming World Cup matches and instant reaction on social media, and soccer paraphernalia scattered everywhere.

“One of the things we love about Doodles is there’s a sensibility that’s personal and simple,” Germick said. “And we hope it connects one-on-one.”

An example of a recent Doodle. (Courtesy of Google)

To guarantee that connection, Cruickshank and Germick traveled to Brazil ahead of the World Cup to get a better understanding of the culture. For Cruickshank, it also allowed him to find creative inspiration from his surroundings.

“I did lots of drawings when we were here two months ago,” he said. “I like to record as much as I can in terms of detail, and then go back and decide what I want and what I don’t want to use.”

Cruickshank takes the complex drawings of his source and then begins stripping out elements until he reaches his finished Doodle image. From there, Cruickshank and his team begin to illustrate the Doodle and bring it to life.

Cruickshank’s sketches of Brazil (Mike Foss/For The Win)

The global appeal of the World Cup resonated with Germick and Cruickshank. Normally, the two design country-specific Doodles. During the World Cup, however, the same Doodle is seen by the entire world. It’s a daily challenge to find something that registers globally and prompts a smile.

“It’s pretty amazing that there is a sphere inside a rectangle that the entire world is fixated on,” Germick said. “It’s really exciting to be part of that community, and it’s great to be able to contribute to the dialogue in our silly, fun way.”

An example of Germick’s vision came the day of the United States’ first match against Ghana. Cruickshank’s Doodle featured two eagles – cultural icons from both countries – which laid an egg whenever its team scored.

“We’re not super sporty. We don’t really celebrate athletes for the most part. … We aren’t going to show action shots of Ronaldo scoring a goal; that’s not what we’re about,” Germick said. “Can we show something that’s part of the cultural experience of the World Cup, and that’s also why we think it’s really important for us to be here. To observe and try to catch a little bit of that culture and be authentic to it.”​

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